1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to needlepoint canvas and yardage. More particularly, the invention relates to open-mesh woven textile and fabric materials in which the holes or apertures between the natural or synthetic threads of the materials are equal to or larger in size than the threads themselves and are intended to receive needle-directed yarn stitches for the purpose of creating a stitchery design on such textiles and fabrics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Needlepoint canvas, in its simplest form, is comprised of evenly spaced, durable warp and woof threads woven into a textile in which the holes or apertures between the threads are equal to or larger in size than the threads themselves. The canvas threads are usually composed of cotton or linen fibers, particularly where the gauge of the canvas (number of threads per inch) falls within the popular range of 10 to 18. The threads are composed of a number of fiber strands twisted together and covered with sizing (a stiffening agent such as starch). Fine gauge needlepoint fabrics normally have 18 to 40 threads per inch (sometimes up to 58 threads per inch) and are woven from silk or synthetic fiber threads in addition to cotton and linen fiber threads.
Textile and fabric materials, manufactured for use as needlepoint canvas, are usually woven in 24, 27, 36, 37, 40, 43 and 54 inch widths (sometimes also available in 60 and 72 inch widths) with the edges firmly woven as a narrow "selvage" band, and such materials are sold by their manufacturers in "bolt" (roll) units having a minimum of 5-10 yards of material. Fabrics manufactured for use as petit point canvas may be woven in 22 inch widths. The warp threads lie parallel to the selvage edges and the weft threads lie at right angles thereto.
The principal types of needlepoint canvases in use today are designated "mono-" meaning one thread on each side of each hole or aperture and "double" meaning two threads on each side of each major hole or aperture. There are two basic forms of mono- canvases, i.e., "mono-floating" and "mono-interlock." With mono-floating canvas (see FIG. 1) the warp and weft (woof) threads are merely woven over and under each other whereas with mono-interlock canvas (see FIG. 2) the warp threads (in fact) comprise two smaller (weaker) threads that are knotted or twisted at each over and under crossing of weft threads. Because of the weaving method, mono-floating canvases are subject to greater slippage between threads so that the mesh pattern of the canvas easily becomes distorted, i.e., the holes or apertures become of non-uniform size and configuration with repeated folding and needlepoint working of the canvas. After a great deal of handling even the best of canvases become limp. Further, mono-floating canvas pieces (cut from bolt yardage) are greatly subject to raveling (becoming unwoven) at the cut edges. Mono-interlock woven canvas is somewhat less subject to edge raveling. The smaller dual warp threads so weaken the total canvas that heavy sharp sizing starches are used to saturate the threads and provide body to the canvas. The increased quantities of sizing that are used to reinforce the smaller (weaker) warp threads render the canvas holes or apertures harsh and rough and thereby cause substantial needlepoint yarn wear and frequent yarn breakage, both during the needlepoint stitching process and afterwards while the needlepoint piece is in use. In performing needlepoint work, the body starch relaxes and flakes and the canvas itself experiences loss of stiffness and body. Overly stiff canvas becomes overly limp when worked. With the loss of body, mono-interlock canvas shifts and distorts and its weave pattern frequently interlocks the canvas distortions. Mono-interlock woven canvas is thereby more difficult to block or straighten when distorted out of shape through the application of needlepoint stitchery. Corrective blocking is frequently temporary. Thus, the canvas will often creep back into its pre-blocked distorted form and cannot be permanently blocked even by professional blockers.
Double thread needlepoint canvas (also referred to as "Duo" or "Penelope") is woven with the warp and woof threads that form the principal holes or apertures of the canvas each comprised of a pair of slightly spaced threads (see FIG. 3) which form small apertures. This weave of needlepoint canvas is useful when it is desired to use half stitches or where petit point stitches (small) and gross point stitches (large) are to be worked on the same canvas. In this instance, the canvas' woven structure permits shifting of warp and woof dual threads to make large and small aperture sizes. In other instances, as with the classic Aubusson tapestry stitch, the two vertical threads are not split to achieve a fine textured stitch but is rendered on double thread canvas without the tedium of separating the double vertical threads.
From time to time other forms of needlepoint canvas have been manufactured. For example, molded plastic, large gauge (4-10) mesh sheets, with a surface texture simulating the warp and woof thread configuration of woven needlepoint canvas, have been made. Such molded mesh sheets have been found to be stiff as a stitchwork material and thus have not found use for upholstery or traditional fine needlepoint applications.
Mono-floating and mono-interlock needlepoint canvases have continued to be used for most stitchery applications despite their many shortcomings and the problems they create for the needlepoint artisan. The principal shortcomings and problems include (as previously noted) edge raveling, canvas distortion, aperture irregularity and roughness, and thread shifting. Needlepoint pieces greatly vary in size from bolt width (24, 36, 40, 54 and 72 inches) and yardage lengths to small pieces (cut from bolt full width yardage) measuring only inches per side. Great care must be taken when cutting bolt or yardage canvas into smaller popular use size canvas pieces to make certain that each cutting course or line follows a single line of canvas holes or apertures, i.e., between warp and woof threads, so that edge raveling is minimized. Wide widths of canvas are particularly difficult to cross-cut following an exact minute woof line. In most cases the needlepoint artisan cuts the canvas so that a wide border area (outside of the proposed stitchery design and background area) is provided and a band of the boarder canvas is folded under and bound, taped and/or cemented with adhesive to the underside of the canvas to prevent raw edge raveling. In other cases the canvas is held along its edge portions in a bulky and rigid frame which is often awkward or inconvenient to carry from place to place where the artisan desires to perform needlework. For any shaping or reshaping of the canvas after the application of needlepoint stitchery, the burdened warp and woof threads of the canvas must be machine stitched to hold the worked threads in place and provide needlepoint stitch retention. Thereafter, the wide safety border area or band of canvas must be attended to. Edge raveling becomes an even greater problem when the ultimate shape of the needlepoint piece is not rectangular with its edges not in parallel with warp and woof threads.
Canvas distortion, stretching, sagging, extension and creep constitute major problems to persons performing needlepoint stitchery. If one closely observes needlework canvas as needlepoint stitchery is applied, it becomes obvious that the vertical and horizontal forces applied to the canvas threads (defining each aperture in the canvas) by the yarn-guiding needle and the yarn itself (as they pass through such apertures) are unequal. The absence of highly controlled and uniform yarn pull results in a wide variance of forces applied to the canvas threads and causes shifting, crunching or tauting of the threads and causes differences in aperture size and configuration throughout the canvas with the ultimate result that the canvas and stitchery design becomes distorted. Although canvas manufacturers have attempted to reduce the distortion problem through the weaving of mono-interlock canvases and by the application of sizing (stiffening) agents to the canvas threads, the problem remains. Distortion correction, after completion of the needlework piece, by straightening or "blocking" the base canvas (and the needlework it bears) must overcome many built-in failure factors. Blocking, a somewhat costly procedure, involves the stretching and straightening of the needlework to its pre-stretched size and shape. Even when the needlework piece is affixed at its edges after blocking, the blocked piece may creep back to a distorted shape over a period of time, and further blockings (if attempted) will yield unpredictable results.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved needlepoint canvas material which is non-distortable and dimensionally stable throughout the application thereto of needlepoint stitchery.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved needlepoint canvas material that is dimensionally stable yet displays adequate flexibility and manipulatability for the needlepoint artisan.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide an improved needlepoint canvas material that maintains its structural integrity with respect to uniformity of aperture size and configuration throughout its manipulation during the application of needlepoint stitchery.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved needlepoint canvas material that does not ravel at its edge during its manipulation and the application of needlepoint stitchery thereto.
It is still another object of the invention to provide an improved needlepoint canvas material which does not require blocking after the completion of the needlepoint work.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an improved needlepoint canvas material which may be cut into non-rectangular regular shapes and an unlimited variety of irregular shapes and sizes without concern for edge raveling and with the material capable of accepting needlepoint stitchery to the last complete holes or apertures and thus to the edges thereof.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved needlepoint canvas material which, although manufactured in typical bolt widths, may be machine cut into relatively long, narrow, selvage-free strips for spooling and marketing without concern for edge raveling during its manipulation and the application of needlepoint stitchery.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved needlepoint canvas material which may be cut into shapes that are free-standing and thus may have needlepoint stitchery applied as a total design to the shapes without requiring surrounding and tedious background stitchery.
It is still another object of the invention to provide an improved needlepoint canvas material that readily accepts and fully supports heavily detailed needlepoint or mixed media cross-stitch designs and patterns regardless of the open aperture mesh gauge of the material.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a unique method for producing a needlepoint canvas material which is non-distortable and dimensionally stable, which does not require the application of excessive, yarn-damaging sizing compounds, which does not ravel at its edges during its manipulation and the application of needlepoint stitchery, and which does not require blocking after the completion of the needlework.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, taken together with the accompanying drawings.